% Manifesto

We support self-medication / DIY HRT
------------------------------------

We believe that a trans person should be able to start hormone therapy
*whenever they like*.

[We have a page that shows how to take HRT safely, and where to buy it
on the internet.](hrt-internet.md)

We believe that trans care should be publicly funded
----------------------------------------------------

In too many cases, transition becomes too expensive so that many people
can't transition. This is because the public health service in most
countries is usually underfunded for trans care.

Or non-existent.

Only a trans person knows that they are trans - nobody else
-----------------------------------------------------------

If you say that you're trans, then you're trans. It's as simple as
that. No person on earth has the right to disagree with you or to tell
you that you're not.

Self determination
------------------

We believe that every person should have complete control over their own
life; specifically, in the case of trans people, that means that they
should be able to freely explore their gender identity and/or
expression, without interference from others.

We are against gatekeeping of any kind, unless for medical reasons. If a
trans person intends to take hormones, and asks for it from their
doctor, the doctor should immediately check suitability; blood tests,
endocrinology exam, etc. This should be done immediately, on a
fast-track service where the individual gets results the same day, if
possible, or as early as possible.

We are not against gender-related therapy, but we believe that it should
be optional. We do not think that seeing a therapist before you get
hormones, hair removal surgery etc, should be needed.

**We believe that a trans person who wishes to have surgery, should be
able to get it done, on the very day that they request it, if possible,
or as soon as possible. Obviously, there are medical checks that need to
be made and the individual needs to be prepared for it. We think that
waiting 1+ years for surgery is unacceptable. 1 month at most, is
acceptable in our opinion, but ideally we'd want surgery to be possibly
after a few days. This means that we need more trained surgeons.
Research should be made into proper techniques, e.g. for trans women
there should be self-lubrication and sufficient depth, etc - we do not
think that the penile inversion method should ever be used, as
documented also on our [surgery page](surgery.md).**

A trans person should, if it is safe for them to take hormones, be asked
what kind of hormones they want; e.g. full dose, low dose,
antiandrogen/antiestrogen only, etc. So if a trans woman wants to take
hormones, she should be able to. Same thing for trans men, and
non-binary people.

We believe that transgender children of puberty age should immedediately
be given puberty blockers, without delay or exception. We believe that
children of puberty age should be given estrogen or testosterone, if
they wish. A trans woman of age 12 should be able to start taking
estrogen, if she wants to. Same thing applies to trans men (for
testosterone) and non-binary people.

We believe that hormones should be sold over the counter, and available
to purchase at any pharmacy without a prescription.

We believe that surgery of all kinds (facial, genital, top surgery, etc)
should be given to trans people of all ages, when they request it. This
includes children. We believe than an 8 year old trans girl should be
allowed to have a vagina, or that a trans man should be allowed to have
a penis at that age. Same for non-binary people, whichever way they are
going (or nullification, if they choose).

Gatekeeping for non-medical reasons is always transphobic. When a trans
person is forced to wait while they under go a *real life experience*
(living in their desired gender, but without the hormones that they
request), that means someone is stopping them from transitioning the way
they want - need - to. It's also transphobic because being trans is not
a mental illness, yet trans people are still, in most countries, forced
to see a therapist anyway, who has the power to *deny* the possibility
of transition. Gatekeeping is also commonly cissexist, because the
therapist will be, in a lot of cases, trying to model their client after
their own image of what they think a *man or woman* (gatekeepers usually
erase the existence of non-binary people, and deny non-binary people the
opportunity to transition) should look like. **Gatekeeping is when a
trans person cannot transition, because someone is trying to prevent
them from doing so.**

### We are politically agnostic

We don't care what political philosophy you have, as long as you
respect other people and are not abusive. We only care about helping
trans people become happy in their lives, and to provide support for
those who need it, to the best of our ability.

### We are not Social Justice Warriors or SJWs

We are SJDs - Social Justice Diplomats.

We are not looking for a fight, and we are not going to rip peoples
heads off. We combat anti-transgender culture constructively, by
attempting to solve problems in a logical way. On our part, that means
providing the Transit website, which attempts to provide as much useful
information as possible, so as to actually help trans people. We're not
interested in creating any sort of militia, because that never works.
**We're not talking about respectability politics. We do not conform to
societal norms, and we strongly oppose them.**

Being a diplomat doesn't mean being nice. It just means that we don't
fight with swords. We use words, and intelligent conversation.

Our style of politics is through influence and diplomacy. We'll get
nowhere by following a *jihad* approach to trans activism. We will
progress by:

-   Educating people properly, both cis and trans, about gender issues
-   Providing the trans community with useful information about
    transitioning, while providing a safe space to chat in (we have IRC
    channels, and we are on the facebook)
-   Working productively with government to influence political
    decisions and legislation - regardless of political affiliation. In
    the UK for instance, we are happy to work with Conservatives,
    Liberal Democrats, Labour party, Ukip, Green party, etc, to help
    encourage positive changes in, for example, how NHS provides trans
    care or how schools are guided on helping transgender students, etc.
-   Leading by example; living our own lives, and being as open and free
    as possible, demonstrating to others that we're OK and that being
    trans is OK and that transitioning is OK, that there is nothing
    wrong with us. For instance, Leah, the person who wrote this
    paragraph that you are reading, is a skilled software developer who
    earns an income working on her own software projects, with funding
    from her company, which she also runs. This is a typical activity,
    practised by many other people (in whatever field of interest that
    they're in)

We are boring liberals at heart. But we also don't care about political
ideologies, in the context of transgender issues. We do not believe it
has anything to do with party politics. All political ideologies should
converge and be supportive of trans people, since trans people are also
people, and can have any political ideology. It's simply not the case
that trans people belong in one party or the other, since their
transgender identity has nothing to do with that. We don't care if
you're otherwise leftwing, liberal, rightwing, or whatever else, about
other issues. We only care about helping *transgender people* to live
comfortably with themselves and, as trans people ourselves (Transit is
100% run by trans people), we know that for most people, the only way is
to start transitioning. Regardless of age.

### We are OK with underground surgeons

Surgery is prohibitively expensive, in most countries, and is often
subject to harsh restrictions, which means that trans people often wait
years before they are allowed vital surgery which could literally save
their life (by reducing their dysphoria, for instance, [if they have
dysphoria](gender-euphoria.md)).

We do not name any on this website, because they usually do not want
their names known. That's the whole point of being underground.

An underground surgeon will usually perform surgery for less charge than
with registered surgeons, and they will not restrict access to their
services. Of course, it's illegal and since it's basically the black
market, you have to be very careful, especially in making sure that the
person you see does a good job.

For some people, it is the only option. We will not judge harshly - or
at all - on people who see an underground surgeon. It is your choice
what you do with your body.

We are also OK with underground surgeons being members of our community.

